Blogs from Busan, South Korea, Asia

2023_Blog 29_Japan April 18 Port of Call: Busan (Pusan), South Korea – Weather: Overcast with light rain predicted - Wind: 12 mph. gusting to 30+ mph. Today is Holland America Line’s 150th birthday and orange was the color of the day. As I stated before the port call in Busan, South Korea was a substitution for a stop that had been planned for Vladivostok, Russia. Due to current political tensions HAL decided to be cautious. Today could be categorized as if you are too efficient things can still get screwed up. It all started with the Korean Immigration inspection. Shore excursions were given priority for their face-to-face inspections. We assembled dutifully at our meeting point and time, were processed with dispatch and were ashore an hour before our tour was actually scheduled to leave. Problem was ... read more

Friday, 18th October 2019 Today's travel plans was marred by rainy weather so my intention to visit Taejongdae was affected as the attraction was closed for the day. Nevertheless, I still hopped on to the Busan City Tour Jumbo Bus which would take me places. Among the stopping points on the route is the Korea National Marine Museum which would make an ideal stop on a rainy day. The sprawling Maritime Museum spanned a couple of stories and the sea turtle swimming freely in the aquarium caught most of my attention. There was even an enclosure where replicas of life-like penguins and seals could be seen. For lunch, I had pork soup at a family run restaurant in Nampo-dong before finishing the afternoon with a cuppa at Hollys Coffee. I took a rest in my hotel ... read more

Sunday, 13th October 2019 After breakfast at Toyoko Inn this morning, I embarked on a half day East Busan Exploration Tour with Klook to bring me to places that were not easily accessible via the Busan Metro. Our tour group today was small comprising of two ladies from Malaysia and another three visitors from South Africa. From the pick-up point at Busan Station, the six of us proceeded straight to the Oryukdo Skywalk, one of the many cantilever glass bottom skywalks scattered along the rugged coast of Busan. It was extremely windy when we arrived so we should count ourselves really lucky that the attraction had remained opened despite the bad weather. After spending about 30 minutes at the Skywalk, our mini-bus proceeded further along the coast to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. This is a very ... read more

Saturday, 12th October 2019 There are a couple of options to get to downtown Busan from Gimhae International Airport. One convenient way is via the airport buses that run straight to the Busan Station where my hotel is located. Another slightly cheaper and longer route is via the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit which connects to the Busan Metro at the popular Seomyeon Station. Since I had arrived really early and had plenty of time to burn before the hotel standard check-in timing, I decided to opt for the latter. After an udon breakfast at Mido Fishcake, I was soon making my way out of the terminal building to the Gimhae Transit Station. Along the way, I dropped by at the airport information centre and helped myself with a copy of the tourist map of Busan. The ... read more

Friday, 11th October 2019 Silkair $398 launch fares between Singapore and Busan caught my attention while doing my travel research in early 2019. The offer was simply "too-good-to-be-missed". With a good-price motivation factor, I booked my tickets for another trip to South Korea after a hiatus of 9 years. My impression of Korea was rather neutral prior to this trip having spent some 6 days in Seoul in April 2010. Things had changed for the better in October 2019. While I still don't comprehend the Korean language, the avail of modern technology like Wifi, Naver Map as well as day tours from Klook meant that I was definitely much prepared for this trip compared to my maiden attempt. And with some luck, I might be able to witness the autumn foliage towards the end of my ... read more